Wave Race: Blue Storm (GC) Retro Review

A game perfect for summer, we turn our attention to racing along the waves, bouncing all over the place in the process as we make a splash with this next review--a retro review. It's Wave Race: Blue Storm, a game that no doubt impressed back in 2001 with its jaw-dropping water physics, and heck, in 2024 it STILL impresses! Here's the SuperPhillip Central review.

Let's take to the waves by storm; there are races to win!

The GameCube was still an era for Nintendo where it was competing in the raw power horserace with Sony, Sega, and then-new player to the industry Microsoft. The console launched in November 2001 with multiple games from the get-go that showed off just how impressive a beast the unassuming purple lunchbox of a console could be, whether that with lighting and interactivity in Luigi's Mansion, an amazing amount of geometry and polygons on screen at once in Star Wars: Rogue Leader: Rogue Squadron II, and yes, the water physics of Wave Race: Blue Storm. I jumped on the first two titles as a younger superhero and Nintendo fan, but Blue Storm was a title that I didn't visit until much later in my gaming career. Does it still make a splash in 2024, or did I wonder, "Water you thinking, Phil?" to playing this game nowadays?

Wave Race: Blue Storm puts players atop jet ski for a wet and wild ride through multiple majestic courses with the general rules of passing buoys on the appropriate side. Yellow buoys require you to pass them on the left, while red buoys need to get passed on the right. Failing to pass on the correct side not only lowers your speed back to its default lowest, but mess up five times and you're disqualified from the race. As you properly pass buoys and perhaps even perform stunts here and there to raise your speed, you eventually gain the ability to perform a turbo boost. This is might helpful on straightaways and especially shortcuts to gain a leg up on your opponents.

The Exhibition course Dolphin Park serves as pleasant starting point for perspective Wave Racers. 

There are eight environments total within Wave Race: Blue Storm, from the mountainside, serene waters of Aspen Lake to the rough and tough racing and being required to weave through tight turns and even narrower passageways in La Razza Canal. Blue Storm certainly runs the gamut from natural surroundings to more fantastical city-based circuits.

With water smooth as silk, Aspen Lake is a bit of a pleasure cruise for a jet ski.

One of the--decidedly many--interesting aspects of Wave Race: Blue Storm is that you can opt to choose which order you do races in within its Championship mode, the meat and potatoes of the Blue Storm package. You might ask yourself, "well, what is the point of that? Simply to save the easier races for last?" Yes and no. Each race takes place on a different day. Each day features different weather for each race. You might choose to take on the turbulent waters of Ocean City Harbor on a day where the weather is clearer than when it's stormy and the already choppy waters become even choppier and near uncontrollable. That said, in the case of Aspen Lake, calmer waters aren't always the best, as a low wave height reveals rocks and other obstacles that would one would need not be concerned with any other day. Conversely, having certain races take place in certain weather also opens up shortcuts that might not be otherwise accessible due to wave height.

Depending on the wave height, you can use the ramp to leap over this pirate ship on the Southern Island course.

Here, Wave Race: Blue Storm's most significant part to its gameplay shines through--the water physics. Picking up where the Nintendo 64 Wave Race left off and running with it--or, riding with it, I guess in this case--Blue Storm's water is just something of a mind-blower. Everything from how your jet ski is affected by other riders' wakes, to the environment, such as in the Arctic Bay course where a chunk of an iceberg crashes into the water, causing massive waves that undulate all nearby racers, it's something to marvel at. Just don't marvel for too long, as you're constantly needing to finetune your steering and acceleration on the fly to stay in control. You're on a perpetual tightrope between being in control and out of control because of the varying waves and your opponents, and this, as you an imagine, is immensely challenging. Considering this is 2001 tech, the game was an amazing showcase for the Nintendo GameCube's power and ability to render realistic waves.

Watch out, first place--you're cruising for a bruising!

Going back to the level of challenge, Wave Race: Blue Storm is NOT an easy game. While there are but three difficulties in the Championship mode, these demand mastery of your vehicle, rider, waves, and knowledge of the courses ahead. It's far too easy to make just ONE mistake that costs you the championship. Also consider that as each race passes, you must reach a specific point threshold or face elimination. This continuous, constant pressure to perform well as races go on doesn't help in a relaxing time on the water, for sure. 

Furthermore, the jet skis that you utilize are a touch twitchier than what was seen in Wave Race 64. They react to your analog stick movements much faster, which makes for a game where if you were a pro in the Nintendo 64 game, you have a lot of relearning to do to master Blue Storm. Holding the analog stick back while simultaneously holding left or right to provide tighter turn control isn't the most natural of actions to do, but it becomes more second nature as you progress with the game. You can also opt to hold L or R for leaning into even sharper turns. 

Take tight turns more sharply by holding the L or R buttons as you steer.
Just don't do like your friend here always does and overcompensate.

Herein lies the biggest issue with Wave Race: Blue Storm: it's far too easy to be overwhelmed by the difficult combination of learning and mastering the controls, how your jet ski handles on waves, and the each and every race. You have but one course accessible to you in the Exhibition Mode, and then you're let loose into the game proper. Basically it's Blue Storm's way of telling you to sink or swim without the safety of a life jacket. This previously touched on Exhibition Mode course, Dolphin Park, is as basic an oval as you can get, and hardly prepares you for the more taxing aquatic trials and tribulations ahead. Prepare to get knocked off of your jet ski plenty of times, whether by running into walls, other racers, failing to take jumps properly, etc., all the while cursing the wave racing gods in the process.

Outside of the major Championship mode that unlocks most content within the game, Blue Storm provides players with a plethora of options outside of pulling their hair out in the aforementioned mode. From Time Attack, where it's just you and the waves to ride on in time trial form, to Stunt Mode where pulling off tricks, whether in the air or on the waves themselves grant points in a goal to rack up the highest score possible, there is no shortage of stuff to do on the waters in this installment of Wave Race. There's even a much less stressful Free Roam mode, offering the ability for practice on any already unlocked course in any already unlocked weather condition. 

Outside of modes for a solo player, Wave Race: Blue Storm also presents multiplayer, allowing up to four players to take on each other and ride the waves together. The increase in player count also doesn't affect the frame-rate. It's as steady as ever with the max amount of players taking up real estate.

I've touched on this previously, but Wave Race: Blue Storm is an absolute tech showcase of the GameCube. The water physics, of course, are the star of the show, but even aspects like the gorgeous environments (though you might be too busy trying to stay on your jet ski to admire them), the more detailed racers on said jet skis and how you can see how emotive they get, to the details in said environments like coral and aquatic life like sea turtles moving through the waters below, do a lot to impress. The sound side of Blue Storm presents players with lots of radio chitter chatter from your crew chief, which at first is a cute addition, but after your second race coming in last place, the smart aleck commentary does little to do anything but annoy. What doesn't annoy, however, is the soundtrack, featuring lots of rock and techno to keep your pulse high if the races somehow don't already.

One moment you'll be all, "I LOVE this game!" Then, the next, "I HATE this piece of $@#^!"

Wave Race: Blue Storm is decidedly not a game for the weak spirited or those with a lack of patience. It WILL kick your butt across its choppy, unforgiving waters unless you master all aspects of its gameplay and controls. For many players, this was perhaps more effort than it was worth. Frustrations and aggravating moments do abound where you do well in multiple races and one mistake costs you from qualifying for podium placement altogether. It's hard not to get demotivated from that. Still, everything else from the magnificent and amazing water physics that again, you can't help but marvel at--especially for 2001 tech--and white-knuckle racing in gorgeous-to-this-day environments that vary by weather make for a racing game unlike any others. Is it better than Wave Race 64? No, especially not in an accessibility sense, but it doesn't stumble over the finish line either.

[SPC Says: B-]